Artists: Lúa Ribeira
Dates: September 3rd 2024 to October 31st 2024

Agony in the Garden is a series of photographs taken in collaboration with young people throughout the arid landscapes of central and southern Spain. The series, developed against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, focuses on a contemporary countercultural movement, reflecting on the present in relation to a distant past and using photography as a means of exploring and documenting this reflection.

Since 2021, Lúa Ribeira has produced a series of images capturing the hedonism and nihilism of Spain’s growing trap and drill scene. These musical genres, originating in the United States, have spread out across the world in a kind of global echo. Emerging from violence and precariousness, they have resonated with young people in very diverse places and contexts; this capacity to articulate the present has become the essence of the series.

The title, Agony in the Garden, is the English translation of what in Spain and within Christian iconography is known as “La Oración en el Huerto”. This episode from the New Testament depicts Christ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane as he awaits his impending arrest; a prelude to the Passion. Although the series refrains from delving into the theology of this scripture, it takes inspiration from the mythological approach, providing a certain distance from the present day.

Ribeira uses the visual research and theatrical collaboration inherent in her work to evoke a unique atmosphere, created through the relationships she builds with her photographic subjects. Ribeira’s intention is to delve into the apparent superficiality of these expressions and explore their link to the current context. In her own words: “With this project, my aim is to read between the lines and reflect on the potential of a dominant expression of our time – often viewed as performative – and to explore its connection to the current panorama of job insecurity, institutional violence and migratory, economic and environmental crisis”. Just like Billy Joel’s ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’, which calls into question the accountability of previous generations for the world we are inheriting. Thus, previous movements, such as punk in the 70s, serve as a reference to help us understand a framework like the one presented by Ribeira.

Agony in the Garden is Lúa Ribeira’s first solo exhibition at the Galería Ponce+Robles. Not only does this exhibition represent a milestone in Ribeira’s career, it also offers viewers the opportunity to explore the complexity of being young in today’s society and contemplate its socio-cultural context. Through her images, Ribeira invites viewers to question and understand the depth of a culture that, at first glance, may seem ephemeral but which reflects the profound and pressing issues of our time.

Lúa Ribeira Cendán (b. 1986, Galicia) is a UK-based photographer, represented by Magnum Photos since 2018. Her work is characterised by her collaborative approach and the immersive process she uses to capture her subjects. She sees photography as a tool to generate encounters and break down structural barriers between individuals and communities. She graduated in Graphic Design from the Bau Escola de Disseny, Barcelona and later studied Documentary Photography at the University of South Wales, Newport (UK). She has lectured and given workshops at many universities, including the London College of Communication, the University of the West of England and the University of South Wales. She has won several awards for her work, including the Firecracker Grant for Women in Photography, the Jerwood/Photoworks Awards, as well as being nominated for the Prix Pictet 19. Her work has been shown internationally in solo and group exhibitions at Impressions Gallery (Bradford), Ffotogallery (Cardiff) Belfast Exposed, Beijing International Photography Biennale, Tabacalera (Madrid) and Fundacion Seoane (Coruña) among others. She is currently part of the exhibition Close Enough, New Perspectives from 12 Women Photographers in Magnum, at ICP New York, curated by Charlotte Cotton. In March 2023, DALPINE published her first monograph Subida al Cielo together with a solo exhibition at the Tabakalera in Donostia.

Agony in the Garden has been exhibited at the Lázaro Galdiano Museum in Madrid and will travel to the FUJIFILM Wonder Foto Shop in Barcelona, as well as to the Can Basté civic centre as part of the 8th Fòrum Fotogràfic.